The Cowboys and Rams got their turn at a week off, and now we're almost through the bye weeks. Then we hit the home stretch. But we'll save the prognosticating for Thursday, when we run our weekly picks column.

Until then, let's look at how the league stacks up. Feel free to send your thoughts ... @Harrison_NFL is the place.

The
Broncos are the clear No. 1 team at this point, thanks in no small part to their offensive line. Talk about stepping up to the plate: Not only was
Peyton Manning able to step up in the pocket
Sunday night, it seemed like he barely had to move against the best pass rush in the league. The
Chiefs came to Denver with 36 sacks and left Denver with 36 sacks.

Watching the end of
the thriller in New Orleans, I kept thinking about what a difference
Sean Payton makes. How many coaches stalk the sideline, waving their arms and asking the crowd to make noise like they're a college kid ... or
Pete Carroll? Payton clearly has proven his value this season. Perhaps everyone who would have already given
Andy Reid the Coach of the Year Award was a bit premature.

RANK

5

7-3PANTHERS

1

Wow.
What a football game. Tremendous hitting, lead changes and the
Panthers showing they can handle a quality team. Sure,
Cam Newton was high on a few tosses, but how about that third-quarter touchdown drive? He was 7 of 7 for 55 yards -- plus 15 rushing yards.

RANK

6

7-3PATRIOTS

2

I don't know if you knew this, but
Tom Brady was a sixth-round draft pick. Now that we've got that covered ...
the non-call on that pass to Gronk was all the talk after the game. Yet,
Stevan Ridley's fumble in the red zone was every bit as important. The ground attack certainly gave the New England offense some pop, in the form of 107 rushing yards -- that's the second-highest rushing total allowed by Carolina all season.

If I'm a
Patriots fan (
or Jerry Jones) I'm looking at
this loss as a moral victory. Much went wrong, and yet, there the Pats were, nearly pulling out a road win versus a top team.

Is there a more inconsistent team than Detroit? The
Lions can
score in a heartbeat through the air -- and yet they lead the league in drops.
Jim Schwartz is the only coach to have taken them to the playoffs in the Y2K era -- and yet
his call to fake a field-goal attempt changed the complexion (and momentum) of Sunday's loss. How about the fact that every year, we hear how great the front four is -- and yet that group was completely missing in the second half in Pittsburgh?

Rating Detroit is a challenge.

RANK

11

6-4BEARS

Clutch overtime victory at home for the
Bears. Once again,
Matt Forte's ability in both the ground and passing attack played a huge role.
Deuce-deuce ran for 83 yards on 18 carries and caught five passes for 42 more -- 14 of which came on
a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Forte might have his flaws, and he might not be the best back in the league, but Chicago doesn't win without him.

RANK

12

6-4CARDINALS

That easily was the best gameCarson Palmer has played in a long, long time. He averaged almost 10 yards per attempt and didn't turn over the ball en route to passing for 419 yards. The last time Palmer threw for that many yards with no turnovers? Never.

The bye was a wonderful opportunity for the
Cowboys to figure out one of the intricacies of modern pro football: How to tackle the other guys. Dallas is allowing 439.8 yards per game -- 32nd out of 32 teams.

Someone tell the
Chargers' defensive backs that it's not against the rules to tackle.
That was a nice, explosive game for
Ryan Mathews, who has been hated on quite a bit by the national media and fans alike. The former first-round draft pick picked up 143 yards in 21 touches versus the
Dolphins.

A lot of fans were upset with me for saying (tongue in cheek) that Cleveland was screwing up at tanking the season. Frankly, I'm on the record as thinking the
Trent Richardson deal was smart for the franchise, but like it or not, that move and rumors of a
Josh Gordon trade created the perception that the team was playing for next season. The thing is, even if the
Browns do go on a run and finish with a decent record, neither of their two first-round draft picks will be high; there's just no getting around that. Other than building confidence, going 7-9 or 8-8 doesn't do much for this squad, because Cleveland is
out of the AFC North race.

The bye week came at perhaps the worst possible time, at least emotionally, for a
Rams team that had just put it all together in
a blowout win over the Colts. Sometimes, as banged up as a roster can be by Week 11, players and coaches don't
want a week off. This team played with a lot of confidence in attaining that victory in Indy, and it would have been nice to ride it out. As far as Week 12 goes, the
Rams are
hosting the Bears.

RANK

24

4-6RAIDERS

1

I met
Matt McGloin in the spring, back when he merely wanted to be drafted; he thought the
Patriots would be a nice fit because he knew their offensive system. A great kid, and he surely knows an opportunity when he sees one. McGloin played an efficient if not spectacular game in Houston, going 18 of 32 with three touchdowns. The key, as is so often the case, was avoiding turnovers.
Heckuva win for Oakland.

RANK

25

4-6STEELERS

1

Pittsburgh's defense has been middling this season, there's no question about that. Tell you what, though: After allowing 27 points to the
Lions in the
second quarter alone
on Sunday, coordinator
Dick LeBeau's unit shut Detroit out all the way home.
Wild card? Still doubtful.

RANK

26

4-7BILLS

1

Give it up for those
Buffalo Bills, who got after
Geno Smith and provided the offense and
EJ Manuel -- who played well -- with good field position
all day. That they finished with a turnover differential of plus-four was a testament to the play of both the offense and defense.

Nice comeback for the
Redskins, though it ultimately fell short. For much of
the game in Philadelphia,
Robert Griffin III a) was nowhere near as explosive as he was last season, and b) seemed to have trouble planting and driving the ball accurately. Maybe it's something in his mechanics, but there's no denying the up-and-down nature of his play.

Of course, nothing could have made up for the poor showing by the secondary.
Eagles receivers were wide open in the first half -- much like
the last time these two teams met.

Power Rankings fun fact: Wilder set an NFL record (since surpassed) with 407 carries in 1984. Rainey might never do that, but still; in this day and age, 30 attempts for 163 yards translates to a big-time workload.

Andre Johnson sure was hot Sunday --
at Matt Schaub, anyway. It should be noted that Johnson has 24 catches for 382 yards and five touchdowns over the
Texans' past three games. Last season, he posted five 100-yard games (including a 200-yarder) over the last nine games. Who's been a better wideout than Johnson over the past 10 years?
Calvin Johnson ... maybe? We'll let you debate that issue.

For all the talk about the
Falcons' hobbled offensive skill players, you can't blame their defensive woes on injuries. Atlanta has been downright awful on that side of the ball.
Mike Glennon -- yes,
Mike Glennon -- went 20 of 23 with two touchdowns and a 137.5 passer rating
against the Falcons on Sunday.